Rally Japan: Citroen final leg and drivers' title summary

Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena: the 2008 World Champions*
Today, Sunday November 2, 2008, will be remembered in rallying's record
books as the day Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena claimed their fifth
consecutive world title, a unique feat in the...

Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena: the 2008 World Champions*

Today, Sunday November 2, 2008, will be remembered in rallying's record
books as the day Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena claimed their fifth
consecutive world title, a unique feat in the history of the sport.
Indeed, the pair has reigned supreme since 2004, initially with the
Citroen Xsara and, more recently, with the Citroen C4. As in 2005, they
made sure of the crown in Japan, this time with one round remaining. The
curtain is scheduled to come down on the season in three weeks' time in
Wales where Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena and Dani Sordo/Marc Marti will
be out to secure the Manufacturers' title, too, at the wheel of their
respective C4 WRCs.

Although the final leg of the 2008 Rally Japan featured just 96.43km of
competitive action (divided into nine stages), everyone in the French
squad found the day extremely long as they waited to pop the champagne
to celebrate today's historic occasion.

As was the case on Friday and Saturday, Sebastien and Daniel made no
attempt to deal their rivals an ippon- style knockout blow, especially
since the conditions were once again wet and muddy. Not surprisingly,
the state of the stages produced a certain amount of anxiety within the
team's ranks. In the end, however, the Citroen pair completed the rally
in third place which was enough to hand them their fifth world title
in just six full WRC campaigns! This score takes Sebastien and Daniel
clear of the record they previously shared with Juha Kankkunen and,
more especially, Tommi Makinen, who was the only driver before them to
succeed in racking up four consecutive championship wins (1996 to 1999).

"It's a fantastic feeling," beamed Sebastien at the finish. "Along with
Daniel and everyone in the team, the objective we set ourselves for this
year was to win another world crown, and it's tremendously satisfying to
have met that target today. I really wanted to wrap up the title here in
Japan to enable us to go into Wales Rally GB with a totally free mind.
That made the weekend very long and very frustrating, and I have to say
that it wasn't much fun. Our C4 and our Pirelli tyres functioned very
well together on this event, though, and we did what we could to keep
any thoughts about the championship out of our minds, but it wasn't
easy. The title just seemed to loom larger after every stage, and it was
well worth the wait in the end!"

"I cannot say whether this year's title is any finer than the others,"
said the now five-time World Champion*. "I will always have special
memories of our first crown and I don't want to give the impression
that winning is something you get accustomed to; it's just that each
title feels different. One thing that has been the same each time is
the thrill of being able to share our joy with everyone in the team.
They have always given us a car with the potential to challenge for
victory, and this is their title, too. That includes Dani Sordo and Marc
Marti whose own results contributed to our success. Our thoughts now
turn to Cardiff where we will try to make it a championship double for
Citroen..."

"It's been a long year, but winning the title is such a great feeling,"
agreed Daniel Elena. "This is our fifth world crown together, and
each one has given me tremendous pleasure. I'm not interested in the
statistics, though; what counts the most is enjoying the stages,
profiting from the terrific atmosphere within the team and working with
Seb."

"I am very pleased for 'Sebastian' and 'Danos'," added Dani Sordo. "They
have scored ten wins so far this year and they fully deserve the title.
It's an honour for Marc and me to be in the same team as them. There is
still one more round to come and we will do our best to score the points
Citroen needs to take the Manufacturers' crown and for us to finish
third in the Drivers' championship." The Spaniards failed to finish the
Rally Japan, however. Following their turbo trouble on Friday, the team
asked them to stop before the finish to enable them to run a new engine
on the Wales Rally GB, in accordance with the regulations.

After today's podium ceremony, Olivier Quesnel was clearly moved by
his first title as the new boss of Citroen Sport: "It's very, very
satisfying," he smiled. "The fact that Sebastien and Daniel have sewn
up the Drivers' title means we have now achieved half the target we set
ourselves before the start of the season. We will take time to celebrate
today's result with all the Citroen Sport staff back at our base in
Satory, but we will then immediately re-focus with a view to wrapping up
the Manufacturers' crown in Wales where the skill of our crews and the
motivation of everyone in the team promise to be valuable allies..."